Written by

Free Press Staff Writer

Andrew J. Dashno Jr., 19, of Burlington was arraigned on an attempted second-degree murder charge Tuesday in connection with allegations he used a .38-caliber gun to try to kill a man during a weekend altercation on Peru Street.

Dashno, who was jailed shortly after the incident, also was charged with assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and domestic assault.

He pleaded not guilty during an afternoon hearing Tuesday at Vermont Superior Court in Burlington and was ordered by Judge Robert Mello to remain in jail pending a bail hearing Nov. 21.

According to a police affidavit, Dashno got into a confrontation with the victim, David Hurne, 41, of Burlington, early Saturday morning. At some point during the altercation, a revolver belonging to Hurne fell out of his pocket. The weapon, police said, was loaded with “shot shells,” or pellets, rather than bullets. Dashno told police he picked up the gun and fired two shots at Hurne as Hurne was running away.

“Honestly, I saw this (expletive) with the long beard that hopefully I was gonna shoot at and kill,” the affidavit quotes Dashno as telling Burlington police officer Dwayne Mellis.

Dashno claimed he took the action because Hurne had pointed the gun at Dashno’s younger brother during an incident earlier that evening.

The two pellet shots struck Hurne’s ankle, and Hurne declined medical treatment, the affidavit said. The pellet gun was later retrieved from the hallway of an apartment house on Peru Street where Dashno’s father lives.

Burlington Deputy Chief Andi Higbee, contacted later Tuesday afternoon, said the investigation into the Saturday incident and Hurne’s conduct with the gun is ongoing.

The misdemeanor domestic assault charge against Dashno stems from a Friday incident in Winooski where Dashno allegedly threatened to harm a former girlfriend and her baby. Dashno, following his arrest Saturday, allegedly texted the ex-girlfriend while sitting in the back of a police car to tell her he planned to shoot her and her child once he was released.

Dashno also told police to let his ex-girlfriend know “I won’t be in jail forever.”

Ten friends and family members of Dashno’s attended his arraignment Tuesday. As he left the courtroom in shackles, the group offered words of support, telling him “stay strong” and “I love you.”

The group declined comment as they departed the courthouse.

Dashno’s criminal record includes a 2011 conviction on charges of disorderly conduct, unlawful mischief and two counts of simple assault, court records show.